Thursday, July 21, 2016

Star Wars tie-in products have always come in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes companies try to create something completely unique to grab the attention of young fans. Occasionally things get a little odd! Here's our first look at such items from the past in a new segment called STAR WEIRD!

The last we'll see of Star Wars Scratch & Sniff?

Back in 1997 the original trilogy (Episodes 4-6) films were being re-released to movie theatres and it was a BIG deal. Fans had kept the galaxy alive over the years, but to the general public, Star Wars had been over since 1983's Return of the Jedi.

Along with the renewed public interest in Star Wars came many related products, including this bizarre kids' book from the "Golden Books" series (at the time not called "Little Golden Books") Star Wars: A More Wretched Hive: The Mos Eisley Cantina (1997). What makes this one so odd? It's a Scratch and Sniff book!

Yep that's right. You get to SMELL the infamous Mos Eisley Cantina, inside and out!

From 1986

Scratch and Sniff books were a popular novelty in publishing during the 1980's but not very common nowadays. There were earlier titles that incorporated the concept into Star Wars books. A More Wretched Hive appears to be the last one made.

The story, told by Margaret Ryder, is a quick version of Luke and Obi-Wan's first meeting with Han Solo and Chewbacca, then blasting off in the Millennium Falcon. Ryder has fun with emphasizing the gross smells the characters encounter. The book is illustrated with photos specifically from the 1997 "Special Edition" version of Episode 4. However it's the smells that make A More Wretched Hive stand out!

If you feel the need to join in these delightful smells A More Wretched Hive is often still available online or in used book stores. For good or bad, the 19 year-old smell stickers may not work so well anymore though.

Each letter
has a focused poem (from Admiral Akbar to Zeb) spotlighting characters, starships
and moments from Star Wars Rebels and
of course most of the Star Wars feature films including The Force Awakens. There’s no inclusion of anything from Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith or even The Clone Wars TV show though.

A few
samples of the fun rhymes inside:

From E for
Ewoks:

“Ewoks are
tricky. They seem fluffy and cute. But if they attack, you might want to scoot.”

From M for
Millennium Falcon:

“A bucket
of bolts, This hunk of junk, She jostles and jolts, From cockpit to trunk.”

From X for
X-Wing:

“A fighting
pair, droid and human, Astromech and rebel crewman.”

Some of the humour in ABC-3PO may be lost on casual fans, directly referencing longtime fans’ inside jokes like “It’s A Trap!” and Stormtroopers’ terrible
marksmanship. At times it feels like the book is trying too hard to be witty – even the subtitle “Galactic
Basic Edition” is never explained and becomes another inside joke and possibly confusing to casual or new fans. (FYI: In Star Wars lingo "Galactic Basic" just means English.)

Also by Calliope Glass

However, if
you happen to be a parent AND a serious Star Wars nut like most of the readers of
this blog, ABC-3PO is a fun way to
reinforce and build on the basics, or to apply what your child is learning
already from preschool, kindergarten or workbooks like the wonderful Star Wars Preschool ABC Fun from Workman Publishing.

Also by Katie Cook

Then again,
the kids may have to wait until the adults are done enjoying this one!

(Publisher’s
recommendation: Ages 3-5)

Did you know?

There have
been other Star Wars alphabet books before including Scholastic’s Star
Wars ABC (2010). ABC-3PO has more
in common though with the 1984 Read-Along Book Star Wars Adventures in ABC which
alsocontained humourous poems for each alphabetical entry. That book had
very silly poems but surprisingly serious-looking artwork inside.